more before and afters of some of my creations...

I had this fabulous idea to MAKE a desk/cabinet area in this little nook upstairs in our loft. I once again went to habitat for humanity and found some treasures.

Here's ALL the BEFORE's of what turned into the cabinets and desk:

#1. EMPTY NOOK. BEFORE

the blank slate
#2. Part of the cabinet side. This piece had to be cut to size to fit the extra space on the left side of the cabinet and painted $ 5.oo at goodwill
#3. the original cabinet. this started as an 18'' deep floor cabinet that I saw potential in being a good hiding place for all of our electrical components and wires to be hung on the wall. It was so heavy. We were afraid it was going to fall off the wall. Barry put lot and lots of screws to hold this baby up.
#4. originally a piece of a bathroom cabinet. to be the desk drawers- sanded, painted, new knobs and shortened. I took a hack saw to the kick board to make it desk height.
#5. desk top started as a blue HUGE laminate counter top which needed to be custom cut to fit our space then it got a great decoupage treatment. The nice guy at habitat for humanity gave me all three of these pieces for $50.00 (believe me custom cabinets are WAY WAY more expensive.)
ADD these all together with a table saw, sander, paint, glue, paper, screws and a lot of elbow grease and get something LOVELY!


HALF WAY DONE
I added a classic front by adding molding to the cabinet doors and paint. Here it is hung. At this point still needs the side shelves and molding

BEFORE




AFTER


started as #4
this started as #3 and #2
started as #5

holy update

Well it has been a little while since i posted about my amazingly exciting life. I guess I am a picture- poster- kind of girl and without a camera it is depressing to post, but here is my update anyways. Barry and I spent Thanksgiving in good 'ole Eagar. Many games where played and there was lots of snuggling-up for a good movie. It was a durn good time. Kari, Tami and I worked out a LOT. Every morning we did some form of kick boxing. Kari is a certified instructor. Places of body were sore that I never knew could be. I was sore to say the least. It felt good to work out especially when you know you will be consuming many, many calories. Yes, my mother is a bomb diggity cook and I thoroughly enjoyed her food!! hoot hoot!! Friday after Thanksgiving, we played football at the annual turkey bowl. The boys got rough and I threw a great pass!

THEN SATURDAY Barry, I, Kirk, Kari and M&D piled into Whitey Tighty (Barry's White Nissan Titan-get it?) and headed for the mountains to find the PERFECT CHRISTMAS TREE!! It had been a few years since I have went Christmas tree hunting. It was sort of a rush to be in the snow-capped mountains in the chilly air- burrrrrr- bundled up stomping around the hard ground, hoping that just ahead of you awaits YOUR full and lovely Blue Spruce to make your Christmas oh so very festive. I didn't find my perfect tree. MY MOM DID. She found the best tree in all of the forest. I don't know how she did it, but there it was after a mile hike into the wood, through a small clearing just on the edge of the deep forest had grown a tree just for us. AHHHH soak in the moment. D and Barry chopped it down and hauled it back. I was so in love with this tree I didn't want Barry to drive his truck (loaded with our tree) to church Sunday in case of little punk Christmas tree VANDALS!! FOUND THESE PIC on my PHONE!! YAY!!




Barry loves our tree too!!
Kirk and Kari found this little Christmas tree- just the right size for the their car.





Bret and Becki tricked us all into thinking there weren't coming at all this year. But they did. They snuck in the back of the house and hid. While hiding, they sent Kingston in the house through the back door. I was napping on the couch and in my dream- like state hear this classic Kingston- "tuck, tuck" (kingston saying TRUCK) I sit up and there is my nephew who appeared from what seemed to be thin air. A few moments later in crawls little London. It was such a good surprise. They are so sneaky.

That night My Mom had a Watch party with Mellissa Hamblin. I have two new amazing chunky beaded watches. A GIRL CAN ACCESSORIZE . visit www.whippycake.blogspot.com to see


other details: lots of eating and BEADING!!


I am so very thankful for all I have. I am so very blessed. I have a wonderful life. I have a loving husband and supportive family. I have the truth of the restored gospel. I have it all. I am sure grateful for this free country we live in.

hello world again

this is lisa making sure i still remember how to post...
its only a test though...
keep anxiously awaiting my first post...

hello world

i know many of you have been anxiously awaiting my first post...

You won't find one without the other

YUP, if you have ketchup, mustard will always be close by.

This year we went to Bret and Becki's for a couples Halloween dinner (if you follow her blog you have already seen the pics) The theme was famous DUOS

I love my husband for many reasons. One being that he wore this: (ENJOY)

I think we make a GREAT DUO!!

A bit of our Halloween spirit 2009

I borrowed some pictures from my sisters camera so I could update my blog. Its really the pits not having a camera. sad face.

Bret and Becki had us over for a fun and FESTIVE FHE a few weeks ago. She made a fall inspired dish where she actually made this rice meat stuff INSIDE a PUMPKIN. cool. I made spooky Halloween cupcakes. We carved some amazing jack-0-lanters (they are check'em out) and we had a real good time enjoying Halloween traditions. My brother Mark, wife Holly and their kiddo Kaemon, Milea and Zallen joined us along with Tami and Ryne. The kids helped inspire some of our carvings. Milea chose the Cinderella pumpkin that I carved. I am a little prideful about how it turned out. WHO KNEW I had a hidden talent. wink.

MY cool cupcakes

STAY TUNED FOR BARRY AND I's COSTUMES..... THEY'LL make you.......hungry!!

broken camera

My camera is broken (sad face) so my posting has been delayed. I apologize for the inconvenience!

Halloween memories

Halloween has always been a fun time of year for me. I especially cherish my memories of Halloween as a child in Eagar AZ. I loved the smell of fresh pressed apples lingering in the crisp air. I love that our house was/is always decked out in holiday spirit: flashing skeleton lights, huge spider webs, the pumpkin cans and mummy bears. Mom always made Halloween fun. She or Dad would take us kids out to go trick-or-treating. We'd all pile in and out of our 1989 Toyota corolla Our costumes were for the most part homemade and had to be warm to fight the cold air of Eagar nights in October. I will never forget Chads mummy costume and that Kari was ALWAYS a Witch. When we were small each of us wore the lil' pumpkin costume (above). I remember some spooky full moons with the clouds hovering near casting eerie shadows on the fallen fall leaves and brown grass. I've never seen that anywhere else. I remember after an evening of door to door candy hoarding, Bret and I would dump all of our candy out on the floor and separate it all into categories and trade for our favorites. Happy Halloween!!

8 inches later...

Well I have been at a loss about what to blog about lately so yes, i am stretching it here. (no pun intended)

My hair has been long for, well, a long long time- pretty much for the past 4 years i have kept it long. I guess I am just a long hair gal! When i chopped it off to my chin in 2004 that was THE LAST TIME. Ok, ok, i won't keep you in suspense, I just cut about 8 inches off my hair and went real DARK! TRUE, I just did that. My hair was long for my wedding in June and i hadn't touched it since so it was (if you were measuring) past my chest area- wink - and just too long. I needed a change so I had my girl friend and favorite cosmetologist Katee do the deed. I had cutters remorse for a few days, but am feeling good about it now

Here it is. I know, i know so EXCITING!


Before:

After:

The good 'ole days of the Provinces Dental Care

Lately I have had a lot on my mind, particularly about my job I had for 3+ years at the Provinces Dental Care. This place holds great meaning to me. I grew so much over the years I worked there. I shared some of my roughest times and best times with the people I met there. My Aunt Paula got me on and taught me all I know about assisting. It didn't take long before Ann this firecracker spunky energetic full time hygienist and I became "like sisters" and she is the older sister I never had. There is Karen beautiful blond who is always kind and good for a word of encouragement, then Monica and her big brown eyes and latino attitude form L.A. always keeps me laughing with her stories and wit. Wendy was like a ray of sunshine every Wednesday she would work. Yvonne my personal physical therapist and front desk pal helped me get back on my feet when I shattered my ankle. Tiff-a-rooni my Chinese (wink wink she's mexican) pal, always with a new pair of shoes and cutest hair. I met lifetime friends that I love dearly. Dr. Jenkins, Dr. Poelman were the greatest bosses who always treated us the BEST! We were like family.. I was inspired to go to Dental Hygiene school because of my job as an assistant but it wasn't an easy choice to make because I was 100% happy and content. It was hard to let go of my place at the Provinces. A LOT changed when I was in school for two year. And NOW It feels like that refuge I used to cling to is crumbling away. New ownership came and with that lots of new "ideas" were introduced. Well, recently Ann the greatest hygienist I know, got "let go" after she dedicated 5+ years to the Provinces. She did anything for them, upped her hours, came in on weekends and at last min notice. She had no warning or notices. She is a single mother of 2 girls with a mortgage and bills. They gave her no reason other than "we are moving in a different direction." I was shocked, disgusted, disappointed, at such a tasteless decision on the part of people I used to look up to. I can't imagine how hard it has been on Ann these past couple days. It breaks my heart. I feel betrayed.

Anyway... Here is a reflection of my happy memories at the Provinces:



Ann (Matilda) and Me (Gretchen) Nerd Day

US PUNK ROCKERS scared Dr. Poelman
Halloween Work Party: Wendy the pirate and me the dark angel
Halloween Day AT the provinces, yes, I wore that all day!! Rocket girl's come back!! Yvonne and Tiffanie
Team building day at Laser Tag!!
Pageant Day: Ann, Karen, Moni, Aunt Paula
We LOVED beading!! Here we are beading at Ann's house
Ann's 30th Birthday!! wink wink
My Summer Squash Moni and I
Karen, Ann Me
Me assisting Dr. Poelman
Cowgirl day with Dr. Jenkins
Howdy there partner!
Christmas Party!!
Ann and I baked up some "Provinces Pie". GOOD TIMES!!

3rd time's a... CHARM

color try #2 BEFORE
BEFORE- Original

So this post is for those far away that haven't had a chance to come see our house yet. There has been major changes to this house. I found hidden potential in this beyond bachelor pad!! It is becoming our HOME SWEET HOME! It started with nasty 7 boy roommate white carpet, plain tan walls, an old table old couches... you get the idea
Carpet (take note of the HOLE in the wall!!) boy roommates are so rough!!
Color try #1. I liked the green but it was just way to dark for the space it was in.

AFTER!!!!!___________________________________________________________________________________________
.NOW We (I) love it. Yellow is such a happy color!! The walls are bright and cheery!! It just took a lot of work (this is my 3rd time painting because I'm a little indecisive). We still have tile to lay in the kitchen and bathrooms. Also where the fan is in the picture is going to be a chandelier and the fan is moving across the way to the living room.

I'm still deciding on what do do for window treatments If you have ideas (colors, style ect.)SHOOT...



We love our vintage table!! It just has so much character. I was online for months looking at tables and all the new stuff just started to look the same to me. I just kept coming back to this old white treasure and just decided I had to have it. I like how it stands out against our wood floors.